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Red ruminations: Castillo not terrible, so at least there was that

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Reds rookie starter Luis Castillo throws a pitch against the Diamondbacks Thursday at Great American Ball Park.

Posted: 5:23 p.m. Thursday, July 20, 2017

The Reds’ 12-2 loss to the Diamondbacks Thursday afternoon was a bit like throwing gas on a fire, but there was -- sort of -- some balm to be found in Great American Ball Park. At least there was this about starter Luis Castillo:

Castillo is only #Reds pitcher this year to pitch at least 5 IPs in his first 6 starts. 2nd longest is Adleman with 4. #GoReds

The rookie starting pitcher allowed four earned runs in six innings, which isn’t fantastic (unless indexed against Cincinnati’s entire starting pitching for the season), but -- again -- he’s a rookie.

For all the chatter about whom the Reds may trade before the July 31 deadline, here’s betting this guy is not included.

After six MLB starts, he’s 1-3 with a quite respectable ERA of 3.86. It seems reasonable to expect steady improvement. Just look at the early career statistics for some of the top Reds pitchers in in their first full seasons:

Player Year Age Team ERA W-L

Jose Rijo 1984 19 Yankees 4.76 2-8

1985 20 Athletics 3.53 6-4

1986 21 Athletics 4.65 9-11

1987 22 Athletics 5.90 2-7

1988 23 Reds 2.39 13-8

Johnny Cueto 2008 22 Reds 4.81 9-14

2009 23 Reds 4.41 11-11

2010 24 Reds 3.64 12-7

2011 25 Reds 2.31 9-5

2012 26 Reds 2.78 19-9

Nevermind the launch of Tom Seaver, who a three-time Cy Young Award winner with the Mets before he was traded to the Reds (for whom he went 75-46 with a 3.18 ERA in five-plus seasons with Cincinnati from 1977-’82).

Player Year Age Team ERA W-L

Tom Seaver 1967 22 Mets 2.76 16-13-@,

1968 23 Mets 2.30 16-12-@

1969 24 Mets 2.21 25-7-@, CY

1970 25 Mets 2.82 18-12-@

1971 26 Mets 1.76 20-10-@

Key: @ = National League All-Star team; CY = Cy Young award winner.

Seaver was ridiculous. He led the National League in strikeouts and ERA in ‘70 (283 Ks) and ‘71 (289).

Bet he didn’t come out of the chute facing playoff contenders in his first six starts:

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